Oven-baked pumpkin with almond sauce

I just love, love, love almond butter in everything, especially with veggies, as the taste of veggies changes soooo much when the almond is added. In this case, almond is the main ingredient and plays well with the sweetness of pumpkin and spiciness of chilli. The same as almond butter is a must, so is the chilli. But, in case of a “no almond butter emergency”, this will be great with hazelnut or cashew butter also.

Ingredients

800 g small, mealy pumpkin, cut into 12 or 14 slices (like cake)
20 ml mild olive or grape seed oil
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp finely chopped rosemary
sea salt to taste
black pepper to taste
dried chilli too taste

Sauce:

2 tsp almond butter
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp quince or lemon juice
1 tsp honey
20 – 30 ml extra virgin or walnut olive oi
sea salt to taste
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper or to taste

Prepare

Heat the oven to 200°C. Rub the pumpkin slices with oil and lay them on the pan, either on one of the cut sides or on their backs so that they stand with the cut ends pointing up. Sprinkle with nutmeg, salt, pepper and rosemary. Bake in the oven until they are golden brown (approx. 15 – 20 minutes but it depends on the pumpkin).

Make the sauce. Put all the ingredients in a bowl, except the oil, and stir with a spoon. Then, while mixing constantly, add the oil slowly, so an emulsified dressing results. If you add the oil too quickly, it will split and will not be creamy. Taste and add salt or pepper if needed.

When the pumpkin is ready, take it out of the oven, put in a serving dish and pour over the sauce. Or, chill the pumpkin completely and serve the same way cold. Sprinkle with chilli either way.

Recipe, style and photos: Signe Meirāne
In collaboration with 2017 H&M Home
Photos taken with Sony alpha 7s